Quails In The Classroom (part 1)

This week ilovemyquail is dedicated to exploring how quail can be used as an educational tool in the classroom.  This two part series will share two unique but similar stories of how quail were incorporated into the classroom. This first story was sent to me by a high school teacher who wishes to remain anonymous. Here is the email that this teacher sent me.

to: ilmqfanmail@gmail.com 

from: quailteacher@gmail.com

Dear Quail Lady,

I am finally writing you because I LOVE your quail blog. I have been a big fan from the early days of the blog and I am SO happy you are back posting. Following your blog has given me the inspiration and confidence to try the following with my own quail.

After following the hatching of your quail chicks last July I was so excited because I thought this would be a perfect way to engage my high school students in illustrating to them sexual reproduction and embryo development. (You would be surprised how many adults do not understand that not all eggs will hatch because they are not fertilized.) This week we hatched 21 eggs which was a success rate of 46%. My students have been so enthusiastic with following the development and finally the hatching of the chicks. I did not realise how small and cute the chicks could be! Thanks again for the great idea.

PS: I was a little surprised at our 46% success rate. Is that normal? If you have any other ideas on how to bring quail into my science classroom I would look forward to hearing your ideas.

Sincerely,

Q.T.

(“Quail Teacher” – student nickname)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

This week the science department saw some extra traffic due to the hatching of quail eggs. This activity was done with the purpose of engaging students (science 9 specifically) with a hands-on, live example of sexual reproduction. To date 13 chicks hatched with one dying immediately (natural selection) after hatching. The chicks will be  taken home on Thursday afternoon. Thank you for all the interest of staff that dropped by to view the chicks.

ANNOUNCEMENT

New Staff Members:

12 Coturnix Quail chicks, one died on the job. Rumoured to have last worked at Earl Marriott, but is happy to have escaped the cramped egg-like conditions and as of Monday landed a temporary gig at Q.E.

FROM A QUAIL'S POINT OF VIEW

First impressions of Q.E.: "Love the friendly staff and students. Everyone seems to be so into us." 

PURPOSE

How are you going to contribute to Q.E.?: The students seem to be asking their science teachers lots of questions about the birds and the bees. It is our intention to have the science 9 students ace their reproduction unit.

Here are some pictures that Q.T. sent us!

Have any Quail in the Classroom stories that you would like to share send us an email at: 

ilmqfanmail@gmail.com 

Everyone Loves Sleepy

Sleepy cuddling with her quail peers. (Sleepy is the one closest to the camera) 

Quick Quail Tip of the Day: (Smelly quail solutions)

So, by now you are all probably aware of the fact the I (the Quail Lady) do in fact love my quail. But, do I love the way they smell...? Not exactly.

For those of you out there who do not <3 your quail's odor worry no more because the Quail Lady is here to help. :)

Eliminate The Odor with #BAKING SODA

Sleepy Update

From One Quail Owner To Another

It has been over a week since the incident and Sleepy is on the road to recovery, or so we hope. It is hard to be sure, especially because of the evident lack of verbal communication. I mean, I talk to to Sleepy all the time but she never talks back. Maybe it hurts too much? I can't be sure. As a concerned quail owner I am calling out for help. Sleepy is still here with us however, I have not witnessed her eat yet. Sleepy is unusually immobile and she is not interacting with her quail peers. I love my quail and I am deeply concerned about Sleepy. Can anyone relate? Please comment below. I need your help.

Healing Hands

Healing Hands

a true story about life as an urban quail

By: Hannah Johnston

As I have mentioned in a previous post (visit Top Quail Eats) because of its small size and disability of not really being able to fly at all, the quail has many predators. The #1 predator being, the crow(s). Here at ilovemyquail we do in fact love our quail and take pride in trying to give them the best life possible however, accidents do happen. And sadly there is nothing that we as loving quail owners can do except hope for a miracle to happen. 

Sleepy is a miracle.

Sleepy, one our beloved quail developed a cataract in both of her eyes, making it very difficult for her to open them. Her condition was very stable and she was doing quite well until the attack. It was one of those rare sunny spring afternoons here in Vancouver, the perfect type of day for house cleaning or in my case, quail coop cleaning. If you are a quail owner you probably know that it is nearly impossible to give the quail coop a good clean with the quail in it. It's just one of those things that does not work...  So, figuring it was such a beautiful sunny day I decided to set up our alternate quail pen (visit Live Your Best Life (quail) that lets are quail peck at bugs in the grass but still keeps them safe from predators, or so I thought... 

This would not be the first crow attack.

 Life as an urban quail is not always easy. Sometimes, there is no where to hide and no where to run. Then imagine Sleepy, not being able to see the next attack coming. The crows in my neighbourhood have a bad reputation for being vicious creatures who like some humans will do whatever they can to get what they want. Unfortunately, Sleepy was their latest victim.

I went inside to answer the phone and when I came back..

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a crow flying away. The crow did not have a quail in it's mouth (thank god) but, I knew that something was wrong. When you are a quail owner/lover, you may as well call yourself a quail mother (or father) because it your job to take care of the quail as if they were your own children.  You must feed them, talk to them, love them and try your best to protect them from danger. At that moment, my quail mother instincts kicked in and sure enough, poor little Sleepy had been victimized. The crow had pecked through the openings in the cage!

Part of her beak had been brooken and she was bleeding.

At first, we thought that this was for sure the end. Sleepy could not see or eat by herself so how in the world would Sleepy be able to live independently? We all want the best for our children/quail so sometimes we have to ask ourselves at what point does the quality of ones life more important that life itself? 

Sleepy is a survivor.

After a couple of days of Sleepy living in a basket in our kitchen and us feeding her egg yolk and water with a syringe, we decided that it would be best to put Sleepy back where she belonged, with her quail family. Lets just say we were prepared for the worse. No one  expected and was prepared for Sleepy to last more than a couple days at most but, lets just say a miracle happened and she is making full recovery. Her beak is heeling and Sleepy is growing stronger everyday. 

I LOVE MY QUAIL 

Clinique + Quail Eggs =

Do not worry. 

i love my quail 

and they love me too

and ilovemyquail.blogspot.ca is returning at full force. This morning the world sent me a message that said I should start quail blogging again. 

I saw this image in a flyer
click here

and finally...